Hunger disrupts the lives of hundreds of thousands of children in North Carolina every day. As more families in our state continue to face hardship caused by the Great Recession, nutrition programs have helped blunt the negative impacts of the Recession on North Carolina children and young people.

Hunger cost North Carolina more than $5.4 billion in lost productivity and reduced outcomes in 2011, according to a recent report from the Center for American Progress. These findings come on the heels of alarming Census data which show unemployment in North Carolina stalled above 10 percent for the second consecutive year and poverty is increasing across the state.

In 2010, 15.7 percent of North Carolina households – nearly one in six – went hungry or faced food insecurity at some point during the year. When considered in relation to the total population, the direct and indirect costs of hunger averaged $570 per North Carolina resident – about $1,452 per household.

North Carolina was one of just 12 states in which the estimated cost of hunger has increased by more than $1 billion since the start of the recession.

Research shows that children are disproportionately impacted by the experience of food insecurity – an effect which persists well into their adult years. Children who grow up in food insecure households are more likely to go without health care, have increased school absenteeism and face greater risk of early academic failure, including dropping out of school, than their food-secure peers. As those children age and transition into the workforce, they encounter diminished outcomes in the form of limited employability and lower lifetime earnings.

Nationally, hunger-induced losses in educational outcomes, earnings and health cost the country an estimated $167.5 billion last year, an increase of 33.5 percent since 2007.

The report notes that expansions to a key federal nutrition assistance program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP-formerly food stamps), helped many families meet some of their household food needs. In North Carolina, one in five residents, more than 1.9 million people, received SNAP benefits in 2010. Forty percent of them were children under the age of 18.  SNAP plays a pivotal role in helping to preserve the fiscal health of our state economy.

Read "Hunger in America: Suffering We All Pay For"

Women, Infants & Children (WIC):

At the "close" of the Recession in 2009, one-in-three children in North Carolina under the age of five received WIC benefits. In 2009, 68,440 infants and 139,441 children participated in the WIC Program. WIC participation increased 14 percent between 2007 and 2009, with the largest jump occuring among children ages one to four.

Research has shown WIC to be among the most successful and effective nutrition intervention programs, with WIC participation being associated with improved birth outcomes, including longer pregnancies, fewer infant deaths, and a reduced risk of low birthweight.

Nutrition Assistance:

By the end of 2009, 1.6 million North Carolinians were facing food insecurity.1

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) helps low and no-income people purchase food. Between 2007 and 2009, SNAP enrollment increased 29 percent to 1.7 million in North Carolina.2 At the "close" of the Recession in 2009, one-in-three North Carolina children were benefitting from the program, an increase of 29 percent since the beginning of the Recession.

A new report from the Center for American Progress looks at the economic consequences of cutting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program as the House leadership budget proposed for fiscal year 2013, released by Rep. Paul Ryan on March 20, 2012.

According to the new report, in 2009, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program was responsible for lifting the income of 3.6 million Americans over the poverty line, providing an average of less than $300 in monthly food stamps to families in need. In 2010 this program lifted 3.9 million Americans above poverty, including 1.7 million children nationally.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program continues to help Americans struggling to make ends meet today. The program provided $72 billion worth of benefits to nearly 45 million Americans in fiscal year 2011, ending in October of last year.

SNAP also plays an important role in sustaining demand for groceries provided by businesses in communities around the country.Analysis in the report finds that each $1 billion spent by recipients enables nearly 14,000 Americans to find or keep their jobs. That means approximately 1 million workers were employed last year because of this program.

In North Carolina, a 10 percent cut to SNAP by the federal government would mean $229 million less in SNAP payments, 3,372 fewer jobs and as many as 370 million fewer meals for low-income families in our state.

**1,346,495 North Carolinians receive SNAP benefits

**17.5 percent of North Carolinians live on income below the federal poverty level ($22,050 for a family of four)

**15.7 percent of North Carolina households suffer food insecurity.

 The report estimates that at the national level:

 * Each $1 billion reduction in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program eliminates 13,718 jobs.

**A 10 percent reduction in the size of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program would cause more than 96,000 job losses.

 ** These losses would be particularly strong in food-related industries, which would lose as many as 11,000 jobs under a 10 percent cut to the program.

** Job losses will likely have the greatest impact on younger workers, since they account for a disproportionate share of workers in food-related industries-nearly one-third of grocery employees are under 25, compared to just 14 percent of workers in all industries.

The map below looks at the state-by-state impact of a potential 10 percent reduction in spending for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program through harsh measures to reduce eligibility. It is estimated that these measures would result in 96,000 jobs lost, take millions of meals off the table, and undermine the stability of tens of thousands of American families.

For an interactive map: http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2012/03/snap_map.html

Source: Meals cut estimated by CAP based on the average cost of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Thrifty Food Plan for a family of four, which is $1.62 per meal. The per meal amount is multiplied by the value of a 10 percent cut in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Estimated job loss from Jeffrey Thompson and Heidi Garrett-Peltier,“The Economic Consequences of Cutting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.”

Free or Reduced Price Lunch:

In the 2009 school year, half of all North Carolina students attending public school qualified for free or reduced price school lunch.3

1 N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, Nutrition Services Branch. Special data request, May 2011.

2Duncan, D.F., Kum, H.C. Flair, K.A., and Stewart, C.J. (2010). Management Assistance for Child Welfare, Work First, and Food & Nutrition Services in N.C. Special data request, June 2011.

3North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, Division of Financial and Business Services. Free & Reduced Meal Application Data.Retrieved from: http://www.ncpublicschools.org/fbs/resources/data/.